Maire Devine (Sinn Fein)
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Apologies. I hope that I will not repeat anything. I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their presentation. I also welcome the representatives of the member organisations in the Public Gallery.

I will fly through my questions, and Dr. McDaid might ignore repeats. I have a difficulty with the oversight group for A Vision for Change. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, the Psychiatric Nurses Association, PNA, and Mental Health Reform conducted a review, but it was kicked down the road as part of an oversight review, which is one of the issues we are trying to tackle. Will Dr. McDaid make a brief comment on this point?

Regarding the matter raised by Deputy Kenny about our area in Dublin South-Central, I got a response from the HSE about the increase in the female mortality rate there. The HSE believes that might just be ahead of the curve, which is frightening.

Would Mental Health Reform welcome online consultations?

I was chatting to Mr. Ray Burke of Mental Health Reform. The Mental Health Commission's answer to us about places it had claimed were unfit for purpose or habitation was not great. For example, it had been saying the same about St. Ita's Hospital in Portrane for ten years before it finally closed down. The commission's response was that there was nowhere else for the people there to go. Surely that should have been planned for during those ten years.

Three child psychiatrists have resigned in the south east. A part of that was down to the conditions of the infrastructure being used to deliver mental health services.

Perhaps Dr. McDaid has discussed the skills mix. Her submission refers to psychologists. I would include advanced nurse practitioners as prescribers. We often ask whether teams always need to be led by a child psychiatrist and whether the skills mix could allow for a multidisciplinary team - read the title to see what that means - to care for children, given the considerable shortage.

We still do not have the full facts on the outcomes and KPIs regarding the €1 billion that we are spending.

The Minister for Finance stated in a report today that 300 health service staff were being recruited per month. I would love to know who they are and whether they are front-line workers. The rate of retirements almost cancels out that number. There is no growth. This is one of the major calamities facing our health services.